Dwight Manley donates $250,000 to ANA building fund for Library
At a special ceremony in New York on August 2, noted rare coin collector and sports agent Dwight N. Manley of Newport Beach, California, and his wife, Sahar, contributed a check in the amount of $250,000 to the American Numismatic Association (ANA) Headquarters Renovation Fund. The ANA Library in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been named in his honor.
In a special ceremony at the Membership Reception at the ANA World’s Fair of Money® in New York City, Manley presented the check to the Association’s Board of Governors.
“When I was a teenager I wanted to attend the 1981 Summer Seminar, but I couldn’t afford the $400 fee on my own,” Manley says. “With the encouragement of the ANA and the assistance of ANA Governor Florence Schook – who was always tirelessly helping young numismatists – I won the scholarship that year and was able to attend my first Summer Seminar that launched my numismatic career. I am privileged now to be able to show my grateful appreciation to the ANA.”
ANA President John W. Wilson says, “On behalf of the ANA, I wish to personally thank Dwight Manley for his extremely generous donation and long-standing support of the Association. I also want to thank ANA Governors Patti Finner and Barry Stuppler for their efforts in obtaining this donation.”
The ANA completed a multi-million-dollar renovation of its Museum and Library last year. Shelf space in the world-class Library has more than doubled, providing better access to the growing collection of books, auction catalogs, periodicals and video programs. The expanded, climate-controlled rare book room preserves and displays many of the Library’s most important references. A new security system protects the valuable inventory.
ANA Executive Director Edward C. Rochette says, “Dwight Manley’s donation to the ANA brings the total of its Headquarters Renovation Fund to nearly $700,000. The ANA undertook the remodeling in 2001 in concert with the creation of a new, technologically enhanced exhibit area for the Harry W. Bass Jr. Collection of America’s finest gold coins. That exhibit was financed by the Bass Foundation, while the funds for the renovation of the Museum and Library were drawn from the Association’s general accounts before we undertook a focused fund-raising campaign.”
Manley is known to many as a sports agent representing Utah Jazz star basketball player Karl Malone and others, but he also is widely recognized as a leader in promoting numismatics. Recently he has served as managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group (CGMG), which has been involved in a number of noteworthy numismatic events that have brought great public attention to the hobby.Under Manley’s guidance, CGMG purchased, promoted and sold California Gold Rush treasure retrieved from the 1857 shipwreck of the S.S. Central America; created a $20 million exhibit of the recovered gold coins, bars and nuggets for display at coin shows and museums throughout the country; and sponsored a television documentary, as well as recent publication of a 1,056-page reference book on the gold rush and the sunken treasure written by Q. David Bowers.
On his own, Manley purchased a rare 1913 Liberty Head nickel for a record $1.84 million at an ANA auction in 2001 and made it the focus of a special traveling exhibit.Manley, 36, began collecting coins at age 6 after finding 1909 and 1910 Lincoln cents in a coffee can. He still has the coins. A year later, he visited his first coin store and was told he needed to study numismatics before he bought more coins. Manley continued his collecting and reading over the years and, in 1981, received a scholarship to attend the ANA Summer Seminar at Association headquarters. The experience of meeting Bowers – his idol – other young numismatists and adults willing to teach and learn launched Manley on his professional numismatic career. A year later, he returned to the ANA Summer Seminar and then attended his first ANA convention.
His interest in numismatics never waned, even when he entered into professional sports management in 1995 by helping Chicago Bull’s basketball star Dennis Rodman put his finances in order. While working with his sports clients, Manley continued behind the scenes with some of numismatics’ greatest treasures at auctions and private sales. In a 1998 interview reprinted in Bowers’ new book, A California Gold Rush History, Manley said, “I think the key is to collect what you enjoy. If you buy something because you enjoy it, you will always be a winner.”
Originally Release Date: August 3, 2002
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